your patience. a before we conclude, just couple of final questions, especially as it relates to the icc. the full foreign affairs committee passed a resolution we held a hearing and did an op-ed for the washington post. it was patterned after an ad hoc yugoslavia.one and the icc has not had -- conviction in over a decade. 18 investigations. nobody else, for some reason. they seem to have all kinds of internal constraints. a lot has to do it the way it was configured. that davidthings green said --

he set ray were you all did. he gave a number of scenarios of what that would look like. you have the ability to go after both sides. you can go after more than one actor. with over 18 indictments, it is not a record that gives a lot of hope of any consequence. be, should weld be looking at an ad hoc tribunal? similar to what we're trying to get off the ground with syria. rose, you mentioned targeted intervention toward protecting .omen affickingark law in tr --

greg stevens and i learned quite horrifyingly that peacekeepers in congo were raping little girls. they have a duty to protect. they have not properly vetted. we have three hearings. the u.n. could issue a zero tolerance policy. there and visited the peacekeepers and a place called heal africa. so many women who had been gang raped or getting a faith-based approach that helps them get their lives back.

is it a problem -- trafficking in c.a.r.? aboute not heard much that. have peacekeepers been complicit in any way? the students were being trafficked in nigeria. there have been marches about it erie it people are frustrated. those young girls were sold into slavery. they were abducted. i wonder if anything like that is happening in c.a.r. have there been any reports? her would making sure that those peacekeepers will be deployed and vetted? my final question. >> thank you, mr. chairman. on the question of being a

macroal, the bigger issue is impunity. it is the message that it sends. the vehicle that we choose -- ful.ink both will be use you are right. at least it brings an international zeroing in on impunity. you could also do a war crimes tribunal. i have not heard specifically trafficking. let me just say that i would not be surprised. that is also an underlying issue going on. there is potential for instability and for that to become a weapon of war. trafficking young men and women in that circumstance. that is another thing to put on the table. in fact, i am headed to nigeria

now. so, i don't know if i will be allowed to -- my flight leaves at 2:30. thank you so much. >> thank you again. issue of theo the peacekeepers. there have been several issues where there have been violent acts. but we talked about earlier today. 30 civilians were killed. that was perpetrated by chadian soldiers. some are operating without any mandate. that is just horrible and needs scruittiny. and, i would also take this

opportunity to say that i am publishing a book about violence in the country. you can learn more about our ideas. thank you. >> i should note that we are deeply appreciative that c-span has given the american people the opportunity to hear about this tragedy from experts who are living there. can you tell us how one might get that report? >> you will find us online. >> thank you. >> thank you. on justice, i have three points. i do not have an opinion on whether the icc is relevant. to think three points about. one, we need to talk to central africans. when i was on the ground, i sell community-based and transitional

-- what will make me feel safe? there are some funds, but not enough. we need to elevate their voices in the debate. and weave some structure are engaging with dialogues. immediatein the future, community-based affiliation is the best approach. with our centers, because they halt, we have a adjusted the strategy and found to have objective results. third, i would say there is a point about the need for state building. police are there. there are still so will servants who want to serve. that is a piece of the puzzl

e. on the issue of gender-based violence, i do not have information. i am happy to ask my staff and get that to you. regardless, the priority is to ensure the due diligence policy. we will put that in place immediately. any new troops to come in or are trans mission and -- tr ansitioned up, we'll go through that now. corpolistic services, mercy is funded from the department of state. to highlight that something started in congress is now a structure working on mthe ground. we are not seeing an international response. we're are carving out funding right now. food like to highlight the acretary of state launched

state from the start initiative that will prioritize emergency response. the grants will be made available. i think that would be a good example. is it true to life? we have not seen it yet. thank you very much. >> as far as the peacekeeping s, the configuration and makeup from countries that border c.a.r. is a huge implication. icc and theto the ad hoc tribunals, i have nothing to share in that regard. finally, for the trafficking by the peacekeepers, i have not heard of any reports. however, many of those countries that do go to -- border c.a.r.

have these kinds of problems. i have to say that there have been no reports. >> you love all that extraordinarily insightful. thank you for your commentary and recommendations, as well as relaying the facts on the ground. i would like to thank my colleagues for this. thank you to c-span for giving america the opportunity to heaer what is going on. some americans may have trouble finding where they are on the map. frankly, they are friends and neighbors and fellow human beings. andove them and debris some will help them in every way possible. your recommendations will be very helpful. thank you for getting this message out to the rest of america. on the next "washington the commone look at

core standards initiative and the role it plays in overall education policy. then, a recent article looking at government efforts to investigate those responsible for the 2008 financial crisis. calls,our phone comments, and tweets. that is live at 7:00 on c-span. saturday, live coverage of the 2014 white house correspondent's dinner. we will hear remarks from president obama and joel mchale, as they speak to celebrities and the white house press corps. coverage starts at 6:00 eastern with the red carpet arrivals, followed by the dinner. see it all on saturday on c-span. >> almost 5000 students entered this year's student cam video

competition. we talked with the top five winners about their entries. >> the moment where we all decided that this was going to be our topic was when there is an article on fracking in our local newspaper. it said it was happening two miles from our house. it is a national problem and also a local problem. we are all very passionate about the subject. it seemed obvious. >> it transcends everything. everybody requires food to live. the fact that a lot of people do not know what is being done to the food supply -- they just eat this food regularly without knowing what is behind it. i find that very concerning. >> there's a lot more that you do not know. it is hard for the average person to know what is going on. they do not know what is going on.

do you value your security and privacy? >> hear more from the top student cam winners this morning . earlier today, president obama and german chancellor angela merkel held a joint press conference at the white house. the two leaders discussed sanctions against russia over the situation in ukraine and the future of relations between the u.s. and germany. this is 30 minutes. >> good morning, everybody. it is always a great pleasure to welcome my friend chancellor merkel to the white house. germany is one of our strongest allies and angela is one of my closest partners. with her indulgence, i want to start by making two brief comments. first, as president, my top priority is doing everything we can to create more jobs and opportunity for hard-working families for our economic strength as a source of strength in the world. this morning, we learned our

businesses created 277,000 new jobs last month. all told, our business is now created 9.2 million new jobs over 50 consecutive months of job growth. the grit and determination of the american people are moving us forward but we have to keep a relentless focus on job creation and creating more opportunities for work and families. there is plenty more that congress should be doing from raising the minimum wage to creating good construction jobs and rebuilding america. i want to work with them wherever i can but i keep acting on my own wherever i must to make sure every american who works art has the chance to get ahead. the second point -- i also want to say on behalf of the american people that our thoughts are with the people of afghanistan who have experience in all tragedy. we are seeing reports of a devastating landslide on top of recent floods.

many people are reported missing. rescue efforts are underway. just as the united states stood with the people of afghanistan through difficult decade, we stand ready to help our afghan partners as they respond to this disaster. even as there were there comes to them and this year, our commitment to afghanistan and its people will endure. i'm grateful for the hospitality you and the german people extended to us last year in berlin, it was an honor to speak at the brandenburg gate. you promised me a warm welcome and delivered and him believable 90 degree day in berlin. this morning, our work touched on a range of issues where the united states and germany are vital partners. we agreed to continue close security cooperation including law enforcement, cyber and intelligence that keeps our citizens safe.

we refer to our strong commitment to completing the transatlantic trade investment are to ship which is radical to supporting jobs and boosting exports in both the united states and europe. we discussed energy security including the importance of europe diversifying its energy sources. the united states has already approved licenses for natural gas exports which will increase global supply and benefit partners like europe andttip would make it easier to get x or just to europe. in our working lunch, we will review our negotiations with iran and our determination to prevent them from requiring a nuclear weapon. we will discuss area where we support the moderate opposition and provide humanitarian relief to the syrian people. i look forward to briefing angela on my trip to asia, region were both our nations can ensure that all countries in the asia-pacific adhere to international law and international norms.

most of our time was spent on the situation in ukraine. angela, i want to thank you for being such a strong partner on this issue. you have spoken out forcefully and against russia's illegal actions in ukraine and you have been a leader in the european union as well as an indispensable partner in the g7. your presence here today is a reminder that our nation stand united. we are united in our determination on coordinate sanctions. we are united on our unwavering article five commitment to the security of our nato allies including german aircraft joining nato patrols over the baltics. we are united in our support for ukraine including the very important imf program approved this week to help them stabilize and reform its economy. as ukrainian forces move to restore order in eastern ukraine, it is obvious to the world that these russian groups are not peaceful protesters.

they are heavily armed militants who are receiving significant support from russia. the ukrainian government has the right and responsibility to uphold law and order within its territory and russia needs to use its influence over these paramilitary groups of they disarm and stop. evoking violence let me say that we are also united in our outrage over the appalling treatment of the osce observers who have been detained in eastern ukraine. pro-russian militants are still holding seven observers including four germans as well as their ukrainian escorts. they have been paraded in front of the media and forced to make statements at the barrel of a gun. it is disgraceful and it's inexcusable. russia needs to work to secure their immediate release and the international community will not be satisfied until colonel schneider and his fellow captains come home. finally, as both angela and i have are beautifully said, we want to see a diplomatic

resolution to the situation in ukraine. we have also been clear that if the russian leadership does not change course, it will face increasing costs as well as growing isolation diplomatic and even -- an economic. you already, the ruble has fallen to all-time lows and russian stocks this year have dropped sharply and russia has slipped into recession. investors are fleeing its estimated $100 billion in investment will exit russia this year. russian companies are finding it harder to access the capital they need and russia's credit rating has been downgraded to just above junk status. in short, russia is making a russian economy even weaker. if russia continues on his current course, we have a range of tools at our disposal including sanctions that would target certain sectors of the russian economy. we have been consulting closely with our european and g-7 partners we are stepping up our planning. angela and i continued these consultations today.

the russian leadership must know that if it continues to destabilize eastern ukraine and disrupt this month's presidential election, we will move quickly on additional steps including further sanctions that will them pose greater cost. that is a choice facing the russian leadership. our preference is a diplomatic resolution to this issue and the ukrainian government is -- has already shown itself more than willing to work through some of the issues that would ensure that the rights of all ukrainians are respected and you have a representative government. they have shown themselves willing to discuss amendments to the constitution on a local level. they have gone through with their commitment for the right amnesty for those who lay down arms and are willing to abandon the building they have occupied. the ukrainian government in kiev has follow through on the commitments it made in geneva. when the russians to do the same.

angela, i want to thank you again for being here. as always for your friendship and partnership. these are challenging times. russia's actions in ukraine pose a challenge to the situation that brought europe and the u.s. together. just as our predecessors stood united for that vision, so will we. chancellor merkel -- >> thank you very much, barack for this gracious hospitality and this warm welcome you accorded to me and i'm very glad to be able to be back in washington and to have an opportunity to address all of these different issues with you. the priority really is on the current issue of ukraine and it looms large in our agenda and it shows how important the transatlantic partnership is in today's times. i think it's a very good thing

that all of the steps we have taken so far, we have taken together and today in our talk, we yet again underlined that we fully intend to go ahead as we did in the past. what happened on ukraine? what happened on the crimean peninsula? the postwar order has been put into question and that rests on the acceptance of territorial integrity by all. this is why it was so important for us to react in concorde. what is at stake is that people in ukraine can act on the basis of self-determination and can determine themselves which road they wish to embark on into the future. the 25th of may is a true till date. we want to ensure that and want to make sure that elections can take place. we talked about this. together, we shall do everything

we can in order to bring russia to do the necessary steps through the osce, and hopefully may 25 will bring about progress. the 25th of may is not all that far away. if that is not possible to stabilize the situation further, further sanctions will be unavoidable. this is something we don't want and we have made a diplomatic offer, an offer for a diplomatic solution so it is up to the russians which road we will embark on. we are firmly resolved to continue to travel down that road. secondly, we addressed issues that have a bearing on the work of the intelligence services. let me underline yet again on from the german side that we have always enjoyed the" operation with our american partner on this front and anyone in political responsibility is more than aware looking at the challenges of the modern world

today that in fighting terrorism, the work of the intelligence services is not only important, it is indeed indispensable. i am firmly convinced our cooperation in this area is very helpful. yet there are differences of opinion on what sort of balance to strike between the intensity of surveillance of trying to protect the citizens against threats and on the other hand, protecting individual privacy and individual freedom. that will require further discussion between our two countries in order to overcome these differences of opinion. we have these discussions on the european front with safe harbor agreement and privacy protection agreement and i take back the message home that the u.s. is ready to do that and is ready to discuss this although we have differences of opinion.

thirdly, ttip, in the overall context of further intensifying our trade relations of global growth but also in the context of diversification of our energy supply. this is a very important issue. it will be very important for us to bring the negotiations very quickly to a close on ttip. we are convinced that for the european union and germany and united states this offers a lot of opportunities for the future. it's so important for us to bring this agreement to a successful conclusion. there are a number of discussions and a number of skeptical remarks. people have doubts but the doubts and skepticism can be overcome. look at the many partners all over the world that have financial trade agreements. it is simply necessary looking

at the intensity of the transatlantic partnership for us to have this agreement and we are fully at one on this one. we have had very intensive talks and we are going to build on this over lunch. thank you very much and thank you for your gracious hospitality. >> i think we will take to questions from the u.s. press and to questions from the german press. we will start with leslie clark. >> thank you, mr. president. you have said today that germany and the united states are united in efforts to de-escalate in the ukraine but have you been able to reach a common ground with the chancellor on sanctions particularly the russian energy sector? what is next if you are unable to? reports in the u.s. press suggest that you believe president putin may not be in touch with reality. is that which you believe,

chancellor merkel? can you give us more insight into what he might be thinking? do you believe he is a threat to europe? >> obviously, every day we are watching the events in eastern ukraine and southern ukraine with concern. i think what you have seen over the course of the last several months in the midst of this crisis is remarkable unity between the united states and the european union and the response. -- at the same time we have offered a diplomatic approach that could resolve this issue. we have been unified in supporting the ukrainian government in kiev both economically and diplomatically and politically and we have said we would apply costs and consequences to the russians if they continued with their

actions. that's exactly what we have done. you saw over the course of the last week additional sanctions of light both by the europeans and the u.s. the next step is going to be a broader-based sectoral sanctions regime. what we have said is that we want to continue to keep open the possibility of resolving the issue diplomatically but as angela merkel said, if, in fact, we see the disruptions and the destabilization continuing, so severely that it impedes elections on may 25, we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional more severe sanctions. the consultations have been taking place over the course of the last several weeks about

what exactly those would look like and would apply to a range of sectors. the goal is not to punish russia. the goal is to give them an incentive to choose the better course and that is to resolve these issues diplomatically. i think we are united on that front. within europe, within the eu, i'm sure there has to be extensive consultations. you got 28 countries and some are more vulnerable than others to potential russian retaliation and we have to take those into account. not every country will be in exactly the same place. but has been remarkable is the degree to which all countries agreed that russia has violated international law and violated territorial integrity and sovereignty of a country in europe and i think there is unanimity that there has to be consequences for that. how we structure the sectoral sanctions, the experts have been working on and we anticipate

that if we have to use them, we can. our preference would be not to have to use them. i think chancellor merkel's leadership on this front. she has been extorting her league helpful not only -- she has been extra ordinarily helpful not only in facilitating the european union but has also been very important in helping to shape a possible diplomatic resolution and reaching out to the russians to encourage them to take that door while it is still open. when it comes to sectoral sanctions, we are looking at a range of issues. energy flows from russia to europe. that continued in the midst of the cold war, at the height of the cold war.

the idea that you will turn off the tap on all russian oil or natural gas exports i think is unrealistic. but there are a range of approaches that can be taken not only in the energy sector but in the arms sector, the finance sector in terms of lines of credit for trade -- all have a significant impact on russia. i don't think it's appropriate for us to delve into the details at this stage because their hope is that we don't have to deploy them there it was i can say is that the discussions are at the highest level. it is not just through the european commission and our diplomatic teams have been working through all the possibilities. we are confident that we will have a package that will further impact russia's growth and

economy but again, our hope is that we should not have to use them. we are not interested in punishing the russian people. we think mr. putin and his leadership circle are taking unnecessary decisions and he needs to be dissuaded from his current course. >> i think it is obvious to all of us that there are different assessments on what happens in ukraine. on the one hand, you have the united states and europe, we have always taken our decisions together and on the other hand, the russians. i hope that russia will live up at her in the future to its responsibilities. we need to see deeds matching words. we don't have any news of the release of hostages of the osce, which is a crucial step that

needs to happen for us. we have not yet seen any implementation of the geneva agreement by the russians. the osce is an organization to which we wish to accord a greater role so they can prepare and pave the way for elections. one word on sanctions -- i agree with the american president that they are not an end in itself but combined with the offer that we want the diplomatic solutions, it is a very necessary second component to show that we are serious about our principles and there is a broad range of possibilities that are being prepared for in the european union. in europe, we have taken a decision that should further destabilize an happen, we will move to the third stage of

sanctions. i would like to underline this is not necessarily what we want but we are ready and prepared to go to such a step. my main aim would be first and foremost to improve stabilization and see to it that the elections can happen. we will work on this in the next few days but we are also prepared to take further steps. what we are talking about will be sectoral measures in the context of certain branches of industry. the american president and i can only agree to this. we must do what is necessary in regards to the dependency on gas which is important in europe. we can also look ahead in the medium term and what we can do in order to promote and energy union which we are doing. we're looking at dependencies in the next 10-15 years on russian gas supplies. there are six countries right now in the eu that depend 100% on gas supplies and went to improve the flow and improve our grade of pipelines.

all of the countries need to share supplies. those are measures we are currently discussing in europe. we're talking about short but also medium-term and long-term issues. the free trade agreement is gaining prominence in this respect. sorry - madam chancellor, you said that time is of the essence and it's getting shorter leading up to may 25. what is the time when you would say moving to a third phase of sanctions is what you would promote? is a more energy intensive initiative by the eu necessary on the government level? can you understand the fact that mr. putin needs to play a role in the solution. his arguments have to be weighed and after the chancellor has made several cone falls with him -- phone calls with him, did you

have a chance with this? >> what about the next few days to come -- i think the meeting of foreign ministers of the eu on the 12th of they will play a very important role and i suspect one can send that what possibilities there are in various directions. from the german side, will do everything we can in order to bring the oscd into a situation supported politically to do what is necessary in order to ring ideas forward in the u.k.. you have monitors for the elections but also questions as regards to a change in the constitution, reform towards further decentralization -- all of the different countr -- arts of the country have to be together. we want to give them the necessary political backing.

at a certain point in time, when it is there, it is difficult to predict. to me, the elections on may 25 are crucial. should there be further attempts at destabilization, this will be getting more and more difficult. for now, i am working for elections to take place on that very date and the heads of state and government are ready at any time should that prove necessary to meet. we have approved that over the past in other areas during the euro crisis and we will them in straight this resolved yet again. i am firmly convinced that united states of america and the european union a to act in concert here and they have done so in the past and they are going to continue to do so. >> i sense from the start that russia has legitimate interests in terms of what happens next door in ukraine.

obviously, there is a deep and complicated history between russia and ukraine. of course, mr. putin's views should be taken into account. what cannot be taken into account is mr. putin's suggestion through words and actions that he has the right to violate the sovereignty of another country. to violate its territorial integrity, today eight -- to dictate the economic ologies or foreign policy of a sovereign country. that is not acceptable. our view from the start has been that the ukrainians should be able to make their own decisions. i am very confident that if ukrainians were allowed to make their own decisions, and they will choose to have a good relationship with russia as well is a good relationship with europe, that they want to trade with russia and trade with europe.

but what they cannot accept understandably is the notion that they are simply an appendage, an extension of russia and that the kremlin has veto power over decisions made by a duly elected government in kiev. if in fact mr. putin's goal is to allow ukrainians to make their own decisions, then he is free to offer up his opinions about what he would like the relationship to be between ukraine and russia and i suspect there will be a lot of ukrainian leaders who will take those views into consideration. it cannot be done at the barrel of a gun. it cannot be done by sending massed gunmen to occupy buildings or intimidate

journalists. one of the biggest concerns we have seen is the russian propaganda that has been blasted out nonstop suggesting somehow that the ukrainian government is responsible for the problems in eastern ukraine. the ukrainian government has shown remarkable restraint throughout this process. the notion that this is some spontaneous uprising in eastern ukraine is belied by all the evidence of well trained and armed militias with the capacity to shoot down helicopters, and generally local protesters don't possess that capacity of surface to air missiles or whatever weapons were used to shoot down helicopters tragically. we have seen the attempt of osc monitors who were approved not

just by europe or the united states but also by russia being detained. and somehow russia is suggesting that kiev is responsible for that. we have heard mr. putin say keo has to do a better job of reaching out to eastern europe -- or eastern ukraine. you have seen attempts by kiev and a very serious way to propose decentralization of power. to provide for local elections. for them to offer amnesty to those who have already taken over these buildings, none of them have been acknowledged by mr. putin or various russian mouthpieces out there. you have also seen suggestions or implications that americans are responsible for meddling inside ukraine. i have to say that our only interest is for ukraine to be

able to make its own decisions. the last thing we want is disorder and chaos in the center of europe. so, for the german audience who perhaps is tuning into russian tv, i would just advise to stay focused on the facts and what has happened on the ground. a few weeks ago, mr. putin was still denying the russian military was involved in crimea. a few weeks later, he acknowledged that they were his guys. they're just has not been the kind of honesty and credibility about the situation there and the willingness to engage seriously in resolving these diplomatic issues.

our hope is that in fact mr. putin recognizes there is a way for him to have good relations with ukraine, good relations with europe, good relations with the united states. but it cannot be done through the kinds of intimidation and coercion we are seeing take place right now in eastern europe. >> thank you, mr. president. earlier this week, critics have called an inhumane manner because of a watched execution. -- a botched execution. some countries have expressed their concern. what are your thoughts on this? does this raise more questions about u.s. justice?

to chancellor merkel -- after edward snowden's revelation on surveillance of your own cell phone, you said friends should not spy on friends. this is now healthy with a healthy alliance? has the personal trust been rebuilt? could you elaborate on this agreement? thank you. >> what happened in oklahoma is deeply troubling. the individual who was subject to the death penalty had committed heinous and terrible crimes. i have said in the past that there are certain circumstances in which a crime is so terrible that the application of the death penalty may be appropriate.

mass killings, the killings of children. but i have also said that in the application of the death penalty in this country, we have seen significant problems. there's racial bias, uneven application of the death penalty, situations in which there were individuals on death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of exculpatory evidence. all of these to raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied. the situation in oklahoma i think highlights some of the significant problem's there. i will be discussing with eric

holder and others to give me an analysis of what steps have been taken not just in this particular instance but more broadly in this area. i think we have to, as a society, ask ourselves some difficult than profound questions around these issues. if you don't mind, i will also go ahead and maybe say something about nsa just because i know is of great interest in the german press as well. germany is one of our closest allies and one of our closest friends. that is true across the spectrum of issues, security, intelligence, economic, diplomatic and angela merkel is one of my closest friends on the world stage and somebody whose partnership i deeply value. and so it has pained me to see the degree to which the snowden

disclosures have created strains on the relationship. more broadly, i have also been convinced for a very long time that it is important for our legal structure and our policy structure to catch up with rapidly advancing technologies. as a consequence, through a series of steps, what we have tried to do is reform what we do and have taken these issues very seriously. domestically, we have tried to provide additional assurances to the american people that their privacy is protected. what i have also done is taken the unprecedented step of ordering our intelligence

community to take the privacy interests of non-us persons into account in everything they do. it is something that has not been done before and most other countries do not do this. i have said that the privacy interests of non-us citizens are deeply relevant and have to be taken into account and we have to have policies and procedures to protect them, not just u.s. persons. we are in the process of implementing a whole series of those steps. we have shared with the germans the things we are doing. i will repeat what i have said before that ordinary germans are not subject to continual surveillance and are not subject to a whole range of multi-data-gathering. i know the perception among the public sometimes is that the united states has capacity similar to what you see on

movies and on television. the truth of the matter is our focus is principally and primarily on how we make sure terrorists, those who want to proliferate weapons, transnational criminals are not able to engage in the act entities they are engaged in. in that, we can only be successful partnering with friends like germany. we will not succeed if we are doing that on our own. but i have pledged to chancellor merkel has been, in addition to the reforms we have already taken, in addition to saying we are going to apply privacy standards to how we deal with non-us persons as well as u.s. persons, in addition to the work we are doing to constrain the potential use of bulk data -- we are committed to a u.s.-german cyber dialogue to close further

the gaps that may exist in terms of how we operate and how german intelligence operates to make sure there is transparency and clarity about we are doing and what our goals and intentions are. these are complicated issues and we are not perfectly aligned yet but we share the same values and we share the same concerns. this is something that is deeply important to me. i am absolutely committed by the time i leave this office, we will have a stronger legal footing and international framework for how we are doing business in the intelligence sphere. i will say that i don't think there is an inevitable contradiction between our security and safety in our privacy. the one thing i have tried to share with chancellor merkel is

the united states historically has been concerned about privacy. it is embedded in our constitution and as the world's oldest continuous constitutional democracy, i think we know a little about trying to protect people's privacy. we have a technology that is moving rapidly and we have a very challenging world we have to deal with and would got to adjust our legal framework. she should not doubt and the german people should not doubt how seriously we take these issues. i believe we will be able to get them resolved to the satisfaction not just of our two countries but to people around the world. >> under the present conditions, we have possibilities as regards differences of opinion to overcome those differences in the medium term and in the

long-term. one possibility is to enter into cyber data which is important which gives us a form to have longer discussions as to where we stand individually and what the technical possibilities and ramifications of eric set the logical events as our. secondly, there are two strands of the european union -- there is the safe harbor agreement and the data protection and privacy accord. in the course of the negotiations, it works out fairly what differences of opinion there are and what different perspectives there are. i think it's of prime importance for us to bring these new decisions forward as a process and bring it to a successful conclusion. something else comes into play -- i heard this this morning when i had a breakfast meeting with people who are closely in contact with the parliament. they suggested that our parliament should have closer contact on this and that is important not only for the

governments but also for the broader public. these could be three possibilities as to how to address this and understand each other's motivations better. >> is it possible to agree on a no spy agreement? what kind of assurances could you give chancellor merkel with regard not only to ordinary citizens but to government members, some of them sitting here, that they are not under u.s. surveillance anymore? >> when the french president was here a few weeks ago, after his talk with president obama, he said trust as regards the nsa has been rebuilt. can you say the same thing?

>> it's not quite accurate to say that the u.s. government offered a no spy agreement and then withdrew it. what is accurate to say is that we do not have a blanket no sp[y agreement with any of our closest partners. what we do have are a series of partnerships and procedures and processes that are built up between the various intelligence agencies. what we are doing with the germans as we are doing with the french and we do with the british or the canadians or anybody is to work through what exactly the rules are governing the relationship between each country. we want to make sure there are no misunderstandings. i think we have gone a long way in closing some of the gaps. as chancellor merkel said,

there's still some gaps that need to be worked through. i think what we can be confident about is that the basic approach that we take with germany is similar to the approach we take with all of our allies and all of our friends. it is that during the course of the last several years as technology advances, i think there was a danger in which traditional expectations tipped over because of new technologies and what we have tried to do is make sure our policies reflect increased capabilities and as a consequence, increased dangers of intrusion on privacy. let me put it this way -- our interest in working effectively with the germans and making sure that german governments as well as the german people feel confident about what we do is as important to us as any other country.

germany is at the top of our list in terms of friends and allies and colleagues. we are not holding back from doing something with germany we somehow do with somebody else. >> i think the whole debate is that the situation is such that we have a few difficulties yet to overcome. this is why there is going to be a dialogue between our two countries. this is also why there needs to be and will have to be more than just business as usual. looking at this and the german parliament but also among members of the german government and also in the german public, we need to do that. it's good we have taken these first steps and what is still

dividing us like issues of proportionality and the like will be addressed. we will work on this and it will be on the agenda for the next few weeks to come. >> thank you very much, everybody. >> biggest challenge, especially redistricting.s the biggest challenge in a primary is from somebody --

almost every district, that is the case. they worry about being challenged from the right. how can their political interest reach across class and make some compromises? when we created this -- i'm not sure that the people realized implications, but i democrats,hat some particularly minorities, have been in our midst too. there have been african-americans who wanted to be sure that they had reliably african-american representation. c-span, fromnd on the anti-defamation league, changing demographics,

redistricting, and the republican party. this morning, just after 11:00. and the white house correspondents dinner. alesident obama and joel mch headline the event. that is live at 6:00. ad live on sunday on book tv, community activist and political candidate, luis rodriguez will take your calls and comments. and on american history tv, a history of hawaii and the sugar industry. >> "washington journal" starts next. the guests include neal mcc luskey, looking at the common core initiative. eisinger, looking

zingis article on penali those involved with the 2008 financial crisis. now, "washington journal." ♪ don't forget c-span's coverage of the white house correspondents dinner begins at 6:00 tonight. you can find out more at our website, c-span.org. look for additional content on our facebook and twitter pages. journal" forton may the third, 2014. obama is -- thos t to get your